Utility

You Click, Walmart Collects

The way we shop is changing—both online and in-store, advances in technology have led to shifting shopper expectations and new ways to buy. Click & Collect is one such advancement, its rapid growth fueled by retailers and consumers alike.

As is the case with so many shopping trends, we see Walmart leading the pack, with 11% of US households making at least one Walmart Click & Collect trip in the past year— three times higher than runner-up, Kroger. So, what’s making Walmart so successful in the Click & Collect realm, and how do their Click & Collect trips stack up against in-store trips? We took a look at data from the InfoScout OmniPanel™ to find out.

Double Trouble

Walmart’s Click & Collect strategy is twofold, incorporating both In-Store Pickup and Online Grocery pickup. With In-Store Pickup, Walmart shoppers make their purchase at Walmart.com and pick it up at their nearest Walmart location; this service is offered at all Walmart stores across the US, and accounts for 73% of Walmart’s Click & Collect trips. The second type of Walmart Click & Collect is Online Grocery Pickup; this drive-through style pickup fulfills orders made at grocery.walmart.com, and is only offered in select, primarily suburban areas.

Though it only accounts for about a quarter (27%) of Walmart Click & Collect trips, Online Grocery Pickup makes up more than half (56%) of Walmart Click & Collect dollars. Larger basket sizes are to blame—or to thank—for this discrepancy, with the average Online Grocery sale exceeding In-Store Pickup by $86.

A Tale of Two Baskets

Contrary to its name, Online Grocery Pickup enables shoppers to buy far more than just groceries. While grocery is indeed purchased on virtually all Online Grocery Pickup trips, items in Health & Beauty and Household are also present on a large portion of these trips. In-Store Pickup, on the other hand, has a much wider spread of sectors shopped, with Toys, Electronics and Home & Garden topping the list.

Comparing Walmart’s two Click & Collect types is all well and good, but how do these trips stack up against traditional in-store Walmart purchases? Online Grocery Pickup inspires larger basket sizes and higher spending, outperforming the typical in-store basket in key areas like Grocery, Health & Beauty and Household. In contrast, In-Store Pickup tends to draw smaller, lower spend purchases for Toys, Electronics and Home & Garden, making in-store pickup less lucrative than in-store shopping among its top sectors.

Collecting Our Thoughts

Though the two Click & Collect types differ in many ways, they both offer shoppers an invaluable perk: convenience. Online Grocery Pickup allows buyers to stock up on all their necessities in one quick and easy trip, while In-Store Pickup takes the stress out of purchasing bulky goods or items requiring a bit of research prior to purchase. As more shoppers begin adopting the Click & Collect model, success will depend just as much on optimizing the online experience as it does the in-store experience. For more information on Click & Collect and the importance of the digital shelf, check out Numerator’s Top Shelf Episode 5: Click & Collect.

Click here to set up a demo and learn more about how Numerator, powered by the InfoScout OmniPanel, can help you examine how Click & Collect trends are impacting your brand or store and how to stay competitive in the rapidly-changing retail space.